A Call to Action in OASIS

The free and open source software community has long demanded that industry standards be freely available to all to implement without patent or other licensing encumbrances. Open standards are essential for free software and open source to thrive.

Now OASIS, a major industry consortium that produces e-business
and Web services standards, has adopted a patent policy that threatens
to undermine our development and licensing model. This patent policy
(available, grouped together with other unrelated legal issues, in http://www.oasis-open.org/who/intellectualproperty.php
) permits standards to be based upon so-called "reasonable and
non-discriminatory" patent license terms--terms which invariably and
unreasonably discriminate against open source and free software to the
point of prohibiting them entirely. It would lead to the adoption of
standards that cannot be implemented in open source and free software,
that cannot be distributed under our licenses. While the policy
includes a provision for royalty-free standards, it is a secondary
option, which will have little effect if a few OASIS members with
patents can ensure it is not used. The OASIS patent policy will
encourage large patent holders to negotiate private arrangements among
themselves, locking out all free software and open source developers.

This is not a new issue for us. We fought hard for a royalty-free patent
policy in W3C and encouraged that standards organization to commit its
members to open standards. But some W3C member companies, steadfast
opponents of software freedom, moved their efforts to OASIS. Without
consulting the free software/open source community, they produced a patent
policy designed so that we cannot live with it.

We ask you to stand with us in opposition to the OASIS patent policy. Do not
implement OASIS standards that aren't open. Demand that OASIS revise its
policies. If you are an OASIS member, do not participate in any working
group that allows encumbered standards that cannot be implemented in open
source and free software.

Please send email to <open@rosenlaw.com> to
indicate your support. We will forward your comments to the proper
authorities at OASIS.

If we stand united in opposition to this unacceptable patent policy, we can
persuade OASIS to change it.